The purpose of this chapter is to protect the wetlands, related water
resources and adjoining land areas in the City of Haverhill by controlling
activities deemed by the Conservation Commission likely to have a significant
immediate and/or adverse cumulative effect upon resource area values, including,
but not limited to, the following: public or private water supply, groundwater,
flood control, erosion and sedimentation control, storm damage prevention,
including coastal storm flowage, water quality, water pollution control, fisheries,
shellfish, wildlife habitat, rare species habitat, rare plant species, agriculture,
aquaculture, sedimentation and erosion control, sensitive wetland areas, and
recreation and aesthetic values, deemed important to the community (collectively,
the "resource area values protected by this chapter"). This chapter and the
regulations of the Conservation Commission are intended to utilize the home
rule authority of this municipality to protect additional resource areas for
additional values and with additional standards and procedures which are stricter
and more protective than those of the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act,
MGL c. 131, § 40, and regulations thereunder, 310 CMR 10.00.

Except as permitted by the Conservation Commission or
as provided in this chapter, no person shall commence to remove, fill, dredge,
build upon, degrade, discharge into or otherwise alter the following resource
areas: any freshwater or coastal wetlands; marshes; wet meadows; bogs; swamps;
vernal pools; banks; seeps; springs; replication areas; reservoirs; lakes;
ponds of any size; rivers; streams; creeks; wetlands not bordering a body
of water; lands under water bodies; lands subject to flooding or inundated
by groundwater or surface water; lands subject to tidal action, coastal storm
flowage or flooding; poorly drained and very poorly drained areas; the potable
drinking water and potential drinking water supply areas at Kenoza Lake, Crystal
Lake, Chadwick Pond, Johnson Pond, Millvale Reservoir and Round Pond; sensitive
wetland areas; rare and endangered species habitats and lands within 100 feet
of any of these resource areas. Said resource areas shall be protected whether
or not they border surface waters. Said resource areas will be determined
by analysis.

Use of or work on any property within the City limits
which is not under Conservation Commission jurisdiction through an up-to-date
order of conditions which adversely affects another property's wetlands or
watershed areas within the City limits shall be made to fall under the Conservation
Commission's jurisdiction through the notice of intent process.

Although the Massachusetts Highway Department may be
exempt from the Wetlands Protection Act, for specific bridgework identified
in specific annual bond issues, the Haverhill Conservation Commission requires
that a notice of intent shall be filed under the terms of this chapter. There
is no fee for this filing.

Maintaining, repairing or replacing, but not substantially
changing or enlarging, an existing and lawfully located structure or facility
used in the service of the public to provide electric, gas, water, sewer,
catch basins, telephone, telegraph or other telecommunication services, provided
that written notice has been given to the Commission at least five business
days prior to commencement of work.

Work performed for normal maintenance or improvement
of land which is lawfully in agricultural use at the time the work takes place,
provided that written notice has been given to the Commission at least five
business days prior to commencement of work.

Emergency projects necessary for the protection of the
health and safety of the public, provided that the work is to be performed
by or has been ordered to be performed by an agency of the commonwealth or
a political subdivision thereof; provided that advance written notice has
been given to the Commission prior to commencement of work or within 24 hours
after commencement; provided that the Commission or its agent certifies the
work as an emergency project; provided that the work is performed only for
the time and place certified by the Commission for the limited purposes necessary
to abate the emergency; and provided that within 21 days of commencement of
an emergency project a permit application shall be filed with the Commission
for review as provided by this chapter. Upon failure to meet these and other
requirements of the Commission, the Commission may, after notice and a public
hearing, revoke or modify an emergency project approval and order restoration
and mitigation measures.

Any activity, the prohibition of which would constitute
a hardship or which would render the affected parcel to become of no viable
economic use to its owner such that enforcement of the chapter would constitute
a taking of property in violation of the Massachusetts or United States Constitutions.

Nothing in the above exceptions to this chapter shall be deemed to waive, alter or adversely affect the powers and duties of the Conservation Commission as set forth in the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, which powers and duties are specifically retained. The exemptions set forth in Subsection A(1) through (8) shall only apply after application to the Conservation Commission in the form of a request for determination to establish the exemption.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
a permit for work may be issued for work which is subject to a variance issued
by the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection. Prior to
issuing a permit, the Commission shall find that conditions contained in the
variance or in the proposed permit will minimize any adverse affect on the
interests protected by the chapter.

No permit shall be required for work if a negative determination
of applicability was issued under the Wetlands Protection Act three years
immediately preceding the effective date of this chapter and if the activities
were completed within three years after the date of the negative determination.

A written application shall be filed with the Commission
to perform activities affecting resource areas protected by this chapter.
The permit application shall include such information and plans which follow
the Commission's submittal guidelines as contained in the Commission's procedural
regulations to describe the proposed activities and their effects on the resource
areas protected by this chapter. No activities shall commence without receiving
and complying with a permit issued pursuant to this chapter.

In cases in which the notice of intent and plans under
the Wetlands Protection Act are required to be filed, the Commission shall
accept said notice of intent and plans as the permit application and plans
under this chapter. In all other cases, the Commission shall accept a permit
application and plans as set forth in its procedural regulations.

At the time of a permit application or request for determination
or application for certificate of compliance, the applicant shall pay a filing
fee specified in regulations of the Commission. The fee is in addition to
that required by the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40,
and Regulations, 310 CMR 10.00.

Any person filing a permit application or a request for
determination with the Commission at the same time shall give written notice
thereof, by certified mail (return receipt requested) or hand delivered, to
all abutters at their mailing addresses shown on the most recent applicable
tax list of the assessors, including owners of land directly opposite on any
public or private street or way, and abutters to the abutters within 300 feet
of the property line of the applicant, including any in another municipality
or across a body of water boundary of the applicant. The notice to abutters
shall have enclosed a brief project description and shall state where copies
of the plans and application may be examined at no charge or obtained by abutters
for a nominal fee at the expense of the abutter. An affidavit of the person
providing such notice, with a copy of the notice mailed or delivered, shall
be filed with the Commission. When a person requesting a determination is
other than the owner, the request, the notice of the hearing and the determination
itself shall be sent by the Commission to the owner as well as to the person
making the request. Abutters shall be renotified if a hearing remains open
for more than 90 days without a finding at the Conservation Commission's request.

The Commission shall conduct a public hearing on any
permit application or request for determination. Notice of such hearing shall
be given by publication at the expense of the applicant in a newspaper of
general circulation in the City at least five business days prior to the hearing.

The Commission shall commence the public hearing within
21 days from receipt of a completed permit application or request for determination,
unless an extension is authorized in writing by the applicant.

The Commission shall combine its hearing under this chapter
with the hearing conducted under the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131,
§ 40, and Regulations, 310 CMR 10.00 in each instance where such
a hearing is required. The Commission shall have authority to continue the
hearing for up to 14 days to allow for full departmental review to a certain
date announced at the hearing for reasons stated at the hearing, which may
include receipt of additional information from the applicant or others deemed
necessary by the Commission or comments and recommendations of the boards,
officials and the applicant or his/her representative.

If the Commission, after a public hearing, determines
that the activities which are subject to the permit application or the land
and water uses which result thereof are likely to have a significant individual
or cumulative effect upon the resource area values protected by this chapter,
the Commission, within 21 days of the close of the hearing, shall issue or
deny a permit for the activities requested. If it issues a permit, the Commission
may impose conditions which the Commission deems necessary or desirable to
protect those values, and all activities shall be done in accordance with
those conditions.

The Commission shall take into account the cumulative
adverse effects of loss, degradation, isolation and replication of protected
resource areas throughout the community and the watershed resulting from past
activities, permitted and exempt, and foreseeable future activities.

A permit may be denied for failure to meet the requirements
of this chapter; for failure to submit necessary information and plans requested
by the Commission; for failure to meet the design specifications, performance
standards and other requirements in regulations of the Commission; for failure
to avoid or prevent unacceptable significant or cumulative effects upon the
resource area values protected by this chapter; and where no conditions are
adequate to protect those values.

Land within 100 feet of specific resource areas and 200
feet from sensitive resource areas, such as: Kenoza Lake, Crystal Lake, Chadwick
Pond, Johnson Pond, Round Pond and Millvale Reservoir are presumed important
to the protection of these resources because activities undertaken in close
proximity to wetlands and other resources have a high likelihood of adverse
impact upon the wetland or other resources, either immediately, as a consequence
of construction or over time, as a consequence of daily operation or existence
of the activities. These adverse impacts from construction and use can include,
without limitation, erosion, siltation, loss of groundwater recharge, poor
water quality and loss of wildlife habitat. The Commission therefore may require
that the applicant maintain a strip of continuous, undisturbed vegetative
cover within the one-hundred-foot area, unless the Commission finds that the
area or part of it may be disturbed without harm to the values protected by
the chapter. When proposing alterations of land within 50 feet of a wetland,
the applicant must overcome a strong presumption of adverse impact on the
adjacent wetlands and their functions and values. The Commission is empowered
to require a twenty-five-foot no-build-no-disturbance zone extending from
the edge of all wetland resource areas and a fifty-foot no-build zone. No
activity is allowed in the no-disturbance zone except as allowed by the Commission
or this chapter. Building construction of any kind, except as allowed by the
Commission or this chapter, is prohibited in the no-building zone.

Due to the highly sensitive nature of the six water bodies
mentioned in this section of the chapter, the size of restricted zones in
these areas may be increased to the amount needed to protect the wetlands
and receiving water bodies from degradation. The exact size of those zones
will be made on a case-by-case basis.

The applicant shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance
of the credible evidence and, where required, by overcoming the presumptions
set forth in this chapter, that the activity proposed in the notice of intent
will not cause significant harm to any of the interests and values sought
to be protected by this chapter. Failure to provide to the Commission adequate
evidence for it to determine that the proposed activity does not cause such
significant harm shall be sufficient cause for the Commission to deny permission
or to grant such permission with such conditions as it deems reasonable, necessary
or desirable to carry out the purposes of this chapter; or to postpone or
continue the hearing to another date certain to enable the applicant and others
to present additional evidence, upon such terms and conditions as seems to
the Commission to be just.

Due consideration shall be given to possible effects
of the proposal on all interests and values to be protected under this chapter
and to any demonstrated hardship on the petitioner by reason of a denial,
as brought forth at the public hearing.

To prevent wetlands loss, the Commission shall require
applicants to avoid wetlands alteration wherever feasible; to minimize wetlands
alteration; and, where alteration is unavoidable, shall require at least one
to one mitigation, to ensure that adequate replication occurs and by posting
a bond in the appropriate sum to ensure that mitigation occurs. The Commission
may authorize or require bridging of wetlands and replication of wetlands
as a form of mitigation, but only with adequate security, professional design
and monitoring to assure success, because of the high likelihood of failure
of replication. A pictorial log may be required showing the progress of the
replication areas of 500 square feet or more from pre- to post-replication
to include monitoring reports for two to five years or when a certificate
of compliance is issued. All replication plans shall be given to the Commission
before an order of conditions is issued. A permit or order of conditions shall
expire three years from the date of issuance. The Commission may issue a permit
expiring up to five years from the date of issuance for recurring or continuous
maintenance work, provided that annual notification of the time and location
of work is given to the Commission at least two weeks prior to the commencement
of the work. Any permit may be renewed once for an additional one-year period,
provided that a request for a renewal is received in writing by the Commission
prior to the expiration date on the order. A permit may contain requirements
which shall be enforceable for a stated number of years, indefinitely or until
permanent protection is in place, and shall apply to all owners of the land,
their successors or assigns. The Commission may require as a condition precedent
to a certificate of compliance, written acknowledgment by all subsequent owners
of the affected property that they have been informed of the Conservation
Commission's jurisdiction over the property. Failure to file such a certificate
within a reasonable time after the coverage of the property may be grounds
for revocation of an issued permit or order of conditions.

For good cause the Commission may revoke or modify a permit or determination issued under this chapter after notice to the holder of the permit or determination, notice to the public, abutters and City boards, pursuant to § 253-5, and a public hearing.

The Commission, in an appropriate case, may combine the
permit or determination issued under this chapter with the order of conditions
or determination of applicability issued under the Wetlands Protection Act,
MGL c. 131, § 40, and Regulations, 310 CMR 10.00.

No work allowed in any permit application shall be undertaken
until the permit issued by the Commission with respect to such work has been
recorded in the Essex South District Registry of Deeds or, if the land affected
is registered land, in the registry section of the land court for the district
wherein the land lies, and until the holder of the permit certifies in writing
to the Commission that the permit has been recorded and all appeal periods
have passed.

After public notice and public hearing, the Commission
shall promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this
chapter. Failure by the Commission to promulgate such rules and regulations
or a legal declaration of their invalidity by a court of law shall not act
to suspend or invalidate the effect of this chapter. At a minimum, these regulations
shall define key terms in this chapter not inconsistent with the chapter and
procedures governing the amount and filing of fees.

Any rule or regulation which is not merely procedural
shall not become effective until it has been ratified by a majority vote of
all of the members of the City Council and approved by the Mayor. If the Mayor
does not approve of the rule or regulations, the City Council may ratify it
by a 2/3 vote of all of its members in accordance with the procedure set forth
in § C-55 of the City Charter.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter or in regulations
of the Commission, the definitions of terms in this chapter shall be set forth
in the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131 § 40, and Regulations,
310 CMR 10.00.

Owners of property immediately adjacent to or across a road or water
body and in another municipality if within 300 feet of the boundary of the
property where work is proposed or across a body of water.

Destruction of plant life, including cutting of trees, use of road salt
where prohibited, changing temperature, biochemical oxygen demand or other
physical, biological or chemical characteristics of any waters;

Includes the land area which normally abuts and confines a water
body, the lower boundary being the mean annual low flow level and the upper
boundary being the first observable break in the slope or the mean annual
flood level, whichever is higher.

A measure of the amount of oxygen required by bacteria and other
microorganisms to biodegrade decomposable organic matter in water used as
an indicator of the amount of organic carbon present in a water.

Area of uplands 100 feet horizontally outward from the boundary of the resource area and in the case of a slope of 2:1 or steeper the area of buffer will increase six inches for every one foot of horizontal distance. The buffer zone around the six reservoirs mentioned in § 253-2 will be 200 feet.

A determination of significance means a written finding by the Commission,
after a public hearing, that the area on which the proposed work will alter,
is significant to one or more of the interests identified in the chapter.

A notification of nonsignificance means a written finding by the Commission,
after a public hearing, that the area on which the proposed work will alter,
is not significant to any of the interests of the chapter.

Submittal of an application at the request of the Chairman to any
or all of the following departments for comments: Health Department, Building
Inspector, City Engineer, Conservation Agent and/or Agent and the Water Department.

The prevention or reduction of flooding and flood damage. General
performance standards means those requirements established by these regulations
for activities in or affecting each of the areas subject to protection under
the chapter.

A condition in which the soil surface is temporarily covered with
flowing water from any source, such as streams overflowing their banks, runoff
from adjacent or surrounding slopes, inflow from high tides or any combination
of sources.

The portion of the year when soil temperatures are above biologic
zero (5° C. or 41° F.), as defined by Soil Taxonomy (16). The following
growing season months are assumed for each of the soil temperature regimes:

A hardship situation will exist where an applicant demonstrates denial
of permission to build or issue an order of conditions would constitute a
taking of property in violation of the Massachusetts and United States Constitution;
provided, however, that no reasonably foreseeable danger to the public health,
safety or welfare will arise from such permission. As for the City of Haverhill,
hardship shall exist where there is no practical means to carry out a project
in the public interest.

An area set aside from development to allow for a buffer area between wetlands and buildings, zero to 25 feet from the flagged wetlands on the site where no disturbance or building is allowed, except as stated in the exceptions sections of this chapter (§ 253-3).

An entity which includes any individual, group of individuals, association,
partnership, corporation, company business organization, trust, estate, the
commonwealth or political subdivision thereof to the extent subject to City
ordinances, administrative agency, public or quasi-public corporation or body,
a municipality and any other legal entity, its legal representatives, agents
or assigns.

Any such data, maps, engineering drawings, calculations, specifications,
schedules and other materials, if any, deemed necessary by the Commission
to describe the site and/or work, to determine the applicability of the chapter
or to determine the impact of the proposed work upon the interests identified
in the chapter.

Any open body of fresh water, either naturally occurring or man-made
by impoundment, and which is never without standing water due to natural causes,
except during periods of extended drought. For purposes of this definition,
extended drought shall mean any period of four or more months during which
average rainfall for each month is 50% or less of the ten-year average for
that same month. Basins or lagoons which are part of wastewater treatment
plants shall not be considered ponds, nor shall swimming pools or other impervious
man-made retention basins.

That land area delineated by Zone II as defined in 310 CMR 24.06
or, in such cases as when the primary recharge area has not been designated
it shall, in the interim, be defined as a one-thousand-foot radius from the
public drinking water supply unless otherwise determined by the Department
of Environmental Protection.

Any source or volume of surface or ground water demonstrated to be
in public use or approved for water supply pursuant to MGL c. 111, § 160,
by the Division of Water Supply of the Department of Environmental Protection,
or demonstrated to have a potential for public use.

Includes, without limitation, all vertebrate and invertebrate animal
and plant species listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern by
the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, regardless of whether
the site in which they occur has been previously identified by the Division
as per the most recent publication.

Shall refer to any areas, including, but not limited to, the following,
in which public health, environmental or agricultural concerns warrant special
protection to further minimize the risk of unreasonable adverse effects:

Organic and inorganic compositions consisting of silicates of aluminum,
iron, calcium, magnesium, silica, etc., derived from the original rock by
weathering and producing characteristic soil types; also decomposed plants
and animals as a result of microorganisms. Air, water and environmental factors
also contribute to soils. Soils are used in determining wetland areas through
their potential for support of wetland plant species as well as their inability
to drain wetland areas freely.

A body of running water, including brooks and creeks, which moves
in a definite channel in the ground due to a hydraulic gradient and which
flows within, into or out of an area subject to protection under the chapter.
A portion of a stream may flow through a culvert or beneath a bridge. Such
a body of running water which does not flow throughout the year (i.e., which
is intermittent) is a stream, so long as it receives discharge from groundwater
for periods of time such that it may be observed to flow during times when
there is no surface water discharge occurring.

Areas where the topography is low and flat and where the soils are
annually saturated. The boundary of vegetated wetlands is the line within
which the vegetational community is substantially characterized by species
identified in the Wetlands Protection Act or this chapter, or, when vegetation
appears to have been altered, within which hydric soils are present. The types
of vegetated wetlands are: wet meadows, marshes, swamps and bogs. The Commission
may find, based on substantial evidence in a particular case, that additional
species are characteristic of wetlands.

Shall be the same as in the Wetlands Protection Act; however, if
a vernal pool is identified and certified within 90 days of filing a notice
of intent, such vernal pool shall be afforded full protection under this chapter.

Shall refer to any raw or finished water source that is presently
used, reserved for future use or under investigation for future use by the
City as a public water system as defined in 310 CMR 22.02 or used as a source
of private drinking water by one or more persons. This shall include all land
and waters used as or tributary to a public water system except those exempted
under 310 CMR 22.20.

Land and/or water areas which support any animals in a wild (not
domestic) state, including, but not limited to: birds, amphibians, four-legged
animals and insects. Depending on the wildlife, the range can be a few yards
to a few miles in area. Plant community composition and structure, hydrolic
regime or other characteristics provide important food, shelter, migratory
travel or overwintering areas for these wildlife species over an indefinite
time period.

As part of a permit issued under this chapter, in addition to any security
required by any other municipal or state board agency or official, the Commission
may require that the performance and observance of the conditions imposed
thereunder (including conditions requiring mitigation work) be secured wholly
or in part by one or more of the methods described below:

By a proper bond or deposit of money or negotiable securities
or other undertaking of financial responsibility sufficient, in the opinion
of the Commission, to be released in whole or in part upon issuance of a certificate
of compliance for work performed pursuant to the permit.

By a conservation restriction, easement or other covenant
enforceable in a court of law, executed and duly recorded by the owner of
record, running with the land to the benefit of this City whereby the permit
conditions shall be performed and observed before any lot may be conveyed
other than by mortgage deed. This method shall be used only with the consent
of the applicant.

No person shall remove, fill, dredge, build upon, degrade
or otherwise alter resource areas protected by this chapter, or cause, suffer
or allow such activity, or leave in place unauthorized fill, or otherwise
fail to restore illegally altered land to its original condition, or fail
to comply with a permit or an enforcement order issued pursuant to this chapter.

The Commission, its agents, officers and employees shall
have authority to enter upon privately owned land for the purpose of performing
their duties under this chapter and may make or cause to be made such examinations,
surveys or sampling as the Commission deems necessary, subject to the Constitutions
and laws of the United States and the commonwealth.

The Commission shall have authority to enforce this chapter,
its regulations and permits issued thereunder by violation notices, administrative
orders and civil and criminal court actions. Any person who violates provisions
of this chapter may be ordered to restore the property to its original condition
and take other action deemed necessary to remedy such violations or may be
fined, or both.

Any person who violates any provision of this chapter
or any conditions of a permit or order issued pursuant to it shall be punished
by a fine as listed herein below. Each day or portion thereof during which
a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.

Alteration of an area subject to protection under the
chapter without having filed for and having in effect at the time of the activity
a valid order of conditions regulating the activity undertaken. The penalty
shall be $300.

Failure to comply with any order or orders as set forth
in any order of conditions in effect to regulate the activity thereby permitted
within an area subject to protection under the chapter within the time period
specified within such orders. The penalty shall be $200.

Failure to comply with any one or more of the terms of
any enforcement order, duly issued by the Haverhill Conservation Commission
within the time limits specified in such orders. The penalty shall be $100.

Unauthorized removal or destruction of vegetation and/or
property on conservation lands and unauthorized disturbance of wildlife by
actions other than the normal and lawful use and enjoyment of such property
or lands. The penalty shall be $100.

Failure to maintain in proper working order or condition
appropriate to their intended function structures, improvements or facilities
which were required or permitted as part of activities regulated under an
order of conditions issued to protect an area subject to regulation under
the chapter and significant to the interests to be protected under this chapter.
The penalty shall be $100.

A decision of the Commission shall be reviewable in the Superior Court
in accordance with MGL c. 249, § 4. If the subject matter of the
appeal is also within the jurisdiction provided by MGL c. 131A, § 40,
and/or 310 CMR 10.00, then the decision shall first be appealed to the Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection in accordance with such jurisdiction
and within the time allowed by law for such an appeal. Any decision of the
Department of Environmental Protection which alters, amends or reverses a
decision of the Conservation Commission shall be reviewed by the Commission
to ascertain whether or not the interests and values to be protected by the
terms of this chapter have been taken into consideration and adequately addressed
by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. If the Commission
finds that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has so
acted, then the Commission shall adopt the decision of the Massachusetts Department
of Environmental Protection. If the Commission finds that the Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection has not so acted, then it shall declare
that the decision of the Commission shall stand independent of any decision
of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. A civil action
in the nature of certiorari to correct errors in proceedings which are not
according to the course of the common law, which proceedings are not otherwise
reviewable by motion or by appeal, may be brought in the supreme judicial
or superior court. Such action shall be commenced within 60 days next after
the proceeding complained of this time shall be stayed during the pendency
of any appeal to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
and subsequent review of a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
decision by the Conservation Commission. Where such action is brought against
a body or officer exercising judicial or quasijudicial functions to prevent
the body or officer from proceeding in favor of another party, or is brought
with relation to proceedings already taken, such other party may be joined
as a party defendant by the plaintiff or on motion of the defendant body or
officer or by application to intervene. Such other party may file a separate
answer or adopt the pleadings of the body or officer. The court may, at any
time after the commencement of the action, issue an injunction and order the
record of the proceedings complained of brought before it. The court may enter
judgment as justice may require.

This chapter is adopted under the Home Rule Amendment of the Massachusetts
Constitution and the Home Rule statutes, independent of the Wetlands Protection
Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and Regulations 310 CMR 10.00, thereunder.